Corridors of the Mind
by Shell Lee
Summary: Tony's acting strange and who wants to kill Brody?
1. Prologe

Author's notes: Ok I'm getting rid of all except the last author's notes. Just to clean it up and make it look a little better. I mean no one wants to read me babbleing on.   
  
Corridors of the Mind  
  
by Shell Lee  
  
'Wendy.' It was the barest whisper, so soft she barely heard it. 'Wendy. Help me.' Where was that voice coming from? She couldn't tell. When it didn't happen again she decided to ignore it. Being a psychic meant that, she more than anyone else, had to know reality from imagination and this sounded like her imagination.  
  
Piccolo was the only other person in the hall and it defiantly wasn't him. But then again...? No. It had to be her imagination. There was no other explanation. It certainly felt like Tony. She'd have to ask him tomorrow about that. 'Maybe he feels it too,' she thought. Staying one more minute in the hall than necessary she asked, "Tony, do you feel anything strange?"  
  
"Nope nothing. Why? Should I?" His face was the picture of innocence, but for some strange reason that expression didn't seem like him. For that matter it didn't really sound like him either. Later she'd talk to the captain and others and ask them if they'd noticed anything strange about Tony. She checked her watch. Oh no. She should've checked that experiment 5 minutes ago.  
  
***  
  
Piccolo was crestfallen. He'd thought for sure Wendy would hear his desperate cries. He could feel the asshole in control of his body trying hard not to laugh. His so-called friends were ignoring him but Piccolo knew better. He knew they just didn't believe the voices they could hear. If he was in their place he wouldn't think much of it either but Wendy he thought that at least she would know that he was trapped in here.  
  
The shithead was trying again to kick Piccolo's mind out of his own body. Tony retreated to the one place he was sure that bastard couldn't find him. It only existed in his mind but he saw it as a real room.   
  
Of course his sub-conscious had to make that place right out of his worst memories. This time he was in the tank they almost drowned him in to make him use the gills. He had learned how not to attach a memory to the place but who knew what'd happen when he got out of there?  
  
Tony felt, there was no other way to describe it, the guy back off but the ex con stayed where he was and rembered just what had happened to get him here... 


	2. Shore Leave

Corridors of the Mind  
  
by Shell Lee  
  
It had all started last shore leave. The guys all had plans and Piccolo was no exception. At least that was before he found out Lucas wouldn't be joing him.  
  
"What do ya mean ya don't wanna go?" Tony was desperate he didn't want to be alone this shore leave. Something deep down inside was telling him if he was alone something bad would happen to him but he wasn't about to tell Lucas that.  
  
"I mean I'm just not up to going to a nightclub. There's a show with the latest software around here and I want to see that." Lucas had no idea why Tony was so worked up. Piccolo'd have a fun time without him tagging along. He should be overjoyed that Lucas wasn't coming with him. "Look if you want you can come with me to the show."  
  
Piccolo looked like he was actually having a hard time deciding but finally said, "Na, you go. I'll find somethin'' else ta do."  
  
"Ok I'll see you on the boat." Piccolo watched as his last chance for safety walked away. He was tempted to run after Walnchek but stayed.   
  
Tony shook his head. This feeling stuff was awful. It was only because of that recent event with the dream that he even considered it was unsafe for him to be alone. Man he couldn't believe he was so gullible. Armed with that thought to keep the feelings away he walked off in the opposite direction that Lucas had taken and consequently didn't see the figure in the shadows silently follow him.  
  
***  
  
"Captain, can I talk to you?" Wendy was outside the captain's quarters. After Lucas' long recovery from Clay Marshal's invasion of his mind she didn't know how the captain would react to her request.  
  
"Sure, Wendy come on in." He sounded tired, worn out from all the paper work he had to do. She felt sorry for him and wanted to leave him to his work but it wasn't like this could wait until morning. She had been putting it off and tomorrow Tony's shore leave ended. This had to be handled before then.  
  
Dr. Smith walked in to the office. The captain stood and offered her a chair. Sitting down, Wendy started to say what she came here to ask him.   
  
"Captain, I need to talk to you about," she took a deep breath, "Tony. It's not safe for him to be a psychic aware of his powers and not know how to use them. It puts him in unnecessary danger and I would like permission to train him."  
  
The captain listened to this and sighed. "I want to protect my crew. If you think Piccolo will be dangerous to..."  
  
"No, he won't be a danger to the crew but it will be dangerous for him. His powers will grow. If he doesn't know how to use them then they will do things that no one will be able to predict or prevent. They won't hurt the crew but it would be pretty bad for them. And that's not the only danger." She took a deep breath to explain the intricate dangers for someone who doesn't know how to use their powers when they know about them.  
  
***  
  
The man Wendy and the captain were talking about was currently entering a bar hoping to get drunk and pick up a chick for the night. Nothing serious he just wanted some fun for the night. Of course it went without saying she'd be just as drunk as he was so she wouldn't rember that he had gills or a whole lot else but finding someone like that shouldn't be a problem in a bar.  
  
Tony walked up to the bar and sat down next to a beautiful woman and, using some lame-ass pick-up line, he actually started a conversation. Tony bought her some drinks and the evening went pretty well from there. They finally had enough of talking and she invited him up to her room. Funny he didn't think he had told her his name. Or vice versa. Oh well time enough to figure that out later.  
  
Piccolo was so wrapped up and drunk in what he was doing he never even noticed the stranger staring at him from the corner. He didn't see the shadowy figure follow him up to the room. So he never saw the dart gun with the tranquilizers in it. Not once before he found one in his back. 


	3. Enter the Enemy

Corridors of the Mind  
  
by Shell Lee  
  
It hadn't gone well in the captain's office. Wendy knew she had talked to much when Bridger's eyes glazed over and he looked like he was having a hard time keeping him head above his shoulders. After she was done boring the hell out of him, the captain simply said, "I'll think about." The implied, "once I wake up," was left unsaid.  
  
'Maybe I shouldn't have started on the delicate intricacies of how the mind can project itself onto objects and others.' The doctor sighed out side her door. She really didn't think the captain knew just how much danger there was in leaving Tony untrained. And boring him was just as likely to bend his decision the other way. Well there wasn't anything she could do about whether the captain said yes or no anymore, so she decided to just prepare for the worst. That being if the captain said yes.  
  
***  
  
Mark Girodey woke up with one hell of a headache. He knew it was just the personality of this body's former occupant so he didn't pay it that much attention. Slowly he stood up. It was always a little weird seeing his body lying on the floor. He smiled when he thought of all the money he was going to get for this job. It was defiantly worth the weirdness.   
  
Mark thought back to when this opportunity fell into his lap. He had killed before and had a wonderful reputation for pulling off murders and having someone else take the blame. The thing was he could get inside someone's head and control them. The guy had wanted someone onboard seaQuest killed. His first thought was can't be done. It would take more than one day and all he could stay in someone was one day. Then he saw how much money the person was willing to pay. He told the client that he'd have to think about it. That night he set up the tap on the U.E.O.'s computer, wrote a program that singled out anything to do with the seaQuest and waited for any opportunity to come up.   
  
Then this one had come up. The guy was perfect. He had a prison record and just come into his powers. Girodey couldn't have put together a better scenario. The guy didn't know anything about how to use his powers. Therefore he didn't know how to fight intruders. The fact that he did have powers meant that Mark could stay in the body of this guy for as long as it took. That night Girodey contacted his client and to say he'd take the job.  
  
The woman was still here. She probably wanted the money too. They had worked together on a lot of these things. They had never exchanged names though. Oh well it didn't matter. All that did was that they got the money.  
  
"I'm going to go do the job. It may take me a while so please take care of my body." His voice, that had to be the worst shook of all. Hearing his words coming out in a different voice. It was surreal. It was all surreal. Except for that nagging headache. That was real and this guy, Tony was annoying the hell out of him.   
  
"He has an accent," she said.  
  
"Don't worry. No one'll notice it. I'll make sure of it. See you when I get the job done." Mark turned and left, walking like a drunk. He was still getting used to this body and it had just been drinking.  
  
***  
  
Lucas couldn't really enjoy the software exhibits. He was to worried about Tony. The look on Piccolo's face before he had declined the offer to accompany Lucas made Walenck feel guilty all though the demonstrations. He had found a really cool new game that promised to be challenging. Then he realized it was a rip-off from something he bought two years ago.  
  
'I should've gone with Tony to that night club,' Lucas thought after he brushed off yet another crappie game. 'Doesn't anyone have any real software? Never mind I'll just write my own.' He finished looking around anyway and found something interesting, completely forgetting about Tony for the rest of the night.  
  
***  
  
Tony's head felt like it was about to fall off his shoulders. The pain was intense. Opening his eyes so he could look around took a lot. Still he needed to know where he was. He removed the white sheet someone had put over his head to take a look around.. The place looked like somewhere but with all the pounding going on in his head there was no way Tony was going to figure it out. Filtered red light was everywhere. He was lying on a medical bed in a hospital room. Next to this bed was another with someone under a white sheet and beyond that there looked like another one...  
  
With sudden clarity, Tony knew where he was and it was not a place with pleasant memories. He was in a morgue. 


	4. Dates

Corridors of the Mind  
  
by Shell Lee  
  
"Hey Tim. How'd the date go?" Miguel came up behind O'Neil. The lieutenant had tried again to go out on a date with Lonnie after that first disaster. Last time Ortiz had heard they had planned on an out door thing. Something away from the city. That had been last night.   
  
"It was interesting." Miguel just rolled his eyes. "I'll tell it to you over breakfast. OK."   
  
"Ok." They just walked down the hall in silence for a few minutes. Lucas came around the corner and looked like a kid with a new toy. Since Tim wasn't talking about the date anytime soon, Miguel decided to squeeze info about the software show out of him. It was easier than waiting for Tim to talk.  
  
"Hey, Lucas. Care to join us for breakfast?" He called out.  
  
Lucas jumped. He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts he hadn't seen them there. "Huh? Sure. Hey Tim how was the date?"  
  
***  
  
Tony rembered this place. He hadn't come here a lot but he had come here. The first time was when his friend was shot and they wanted him to identify the body. His friend looked so peaceful. Like he was asleep. If it wasn't for the hole in the middle of his forehead then Tony might have been able to convince himself that it was all a dream. He had been ten then.  
  
Another time was when his girlfriend had killed herself. He'd been so worried that she did it because of him.  
  
Too many people ended up here. He had to get out of there. He had to get out of there now. Pushing the sheet off of himself Tony jumped out of bed and ran to the door. Throwing it open he found himself walking down to the launch back to seaQuest and it didn't feel like he was alone.  
  
***  
  
They had made it to the galley without anything else really happening. After they had got their breakfast and sat down Tim started his story, "So you want to know what happened? We are totally not meant for each other. I don't know why but it's true. We had decided to go for a nice hike. I had an asthma attack."  
  
"Ouch," Ortiz remarked picking up a piece of bacon.  
  
"Yeah, but I think next time we might get further." He brought up his fork full eggs up to his mouth and continued with his mouth full, "I don't know if she'll go for another date but," he paused to swallow, "if she wants to I'm game."  
  
"Tim, Tim. You have to let it go. You and her were just not meant to be." Lucas put his hand on O'Neil's shoulder. "You have to let it go man."  
  
"That sounds so corny. Where'd you get it?" Ortiz joked, putting down the unidentifiable stuff on its way to his mouth.   
  
"It was in an old movie I think. You'd have to go through the archives on that one." Lucas took his hand off Tim and resumed eating.  
  
O'Neil desperate to change the conversation said, "Hey, where's Tony? I haven't seen him since before the shore leave."  
  
Lucas catching on said, "I saw him last night. He invited me to a night club and I invited him to a software show. He was acting really paranoid."  
  
"That's weird. He always stuck me as the what-happens-happens type." Ortiz spotted commander Ford across the mess and motioned for him to join them.  
  
"Hey. Oh Tim? Do you mind if I ask you something?" Ford put his plate down before sitting.  
  
O'Neil swallowed before saying, "Shoot."  
  
"How did the date go?" 


	5. The Trip

Corridors of the Mind  
  
by Shell Lee  
  
Tony couldn't figure out what was happening. One minute he was in a morgue the next walking down to catch a launch? How was that possible? And then there was that feeling he wasn't alone. Something was happening and he just wasn't quite getting it.  
  
He wanted to just sit down and try to figure this thing out. Somehow he just kept on walking. The next bench he passed Tony tried to sit down. All he managed was veering towards it a little but not quite getting there.   
  
This was freaking him out. He had almost just about no control over his body. For the rest of trip down to the launch he kept trying to see just how much control he had. Piccolo found out that he could alter his walking course a little but not stop at all and he couldn't say anything. Once or twice he heard a "Hi" or a "Hello" come out of his mouth but as far as he knew he hadn't said a thing.   
  
By the time he got down to the launch Tony was dead tired. Fortunately his body seemed to think so to and sat down for a long nap on one of the benches.  
  
***  
  
Brody was on the last shuttle back to the seaQuest. When he got on, he saw Tony sleeping on a bench next to the door and Henderson sitting next to him. He knew that she had just gone out on a second date with Tim and he wanted the details.  
  
"So Lonnie. How the date go?" Subtlety wasn't his best subject.  
  
"Wow. Blunt today, aren't we?" Jim knew an attempt to change the subject when he saw one. So he just stared at her with a 'come-on' expression on his face. "I don't know if it's him or what but every time we go out we either pick something one of us hates or something happens."  
  
"Calm down you don't want to wake Tony up do you?" She shuddered at that thought. The last thing she wanted was love advice from Tony. "You've been out only twice. How can you say every time?"  
  
"Easy. It didn't work this time and it didn't work last time. That's every time." Her voice was considerably lower than last time.  
  
"Ok. What happened? Maybe we can figure this out and get you two together." Brody thought they looked cute together and wanted them to be happy. It wasn't often two people could be happy in life.  
  
"We went out for a hike. The day was beautiful. It was perfect for a nice romantic hike. The foliage just turning beautiful bright colors when Tim breaks down and has an asthma attack! He didn't even bring his inhaler!" She didn't sound too pleased with how events turned out.  
  
"Calm down. There's no need to get all worked up. Take a deep breath." Brody took a deep breath to prove his point. "Now who's to say the next time you go out wont be better? Third time's the charm, right?"  
  
***  
  
Tony could hear voices. He didn't know where they were coming from. But he did know what they were talking about. Tim and Lonnie's date. He'd been wondering how that went.  
  
***  
  
"You do have a point but I just don't want to go through that again. What if next times worse and one of us ends up going to the hospital?" She was calming down now and it showed.   
  
"That's a risk everyone takes. You two do make a cute couple. Where is Tim anyway? I thought you two would come back together." He had been thinking they'd come back as a couple but by now it was obvious that they hadn't.  
  
"He went back to seaQuest yesterday. I wanted one more day to think about things. You know. About him and me. You know this is a big help. Thank you."  
  
"It wasn't nothing. Glad to help." And Jim was. People started coming on in groups and it wasn't long before they took off for the seaQuest. They didn't know they had a stow away.  
  
***  
  
Mark could hear the conversation. He nearly laughed. The person he was hired to kill was just above him. If he hadn't been so tired after his fight with Piccolo then he'd kill them and be done with this. It was so ironic. He spent days working out just what he needed to do and say to be believable as Tony. Then what happens? On his way to the seaQuest he ends up taking the trip with his victim. He was just too tired to care. 'Later,' he consoled himself. 'Later. There'll be plenty of time later.' For now he just rested buying his time for when Mark could kill him and have Tony take the fall. 


	6. Meetings With the Enemy

Corridors of the Mind  
  
by Shell Lee  
  
The day had gone fairly well. No one had asked him about anything he couldn't answer. Mark couldn't believe what an interesting life this guy lead. Some strange things came up when he took a shower. No matter what he saw in the U.E.O. database he couldn't find just how this Tony guy had gotten out of prison. He could find how he got put in prison but not out. When he striped Tony's body down he found out. The guy had silts in his sides that looked a lot like gill silts on a fish. He must've made some kind of deal with the U.E.O. This guy was really smarter than he had realized.  
  
Mark just looked in the mirror and shook Tony's head. That had to have hurt going in. It sure explained the captain asking him to clean the insides of the aqua tunnels.  
  
Later in the day he washed up. Anyone going by would've thought that Tony had gone crazy. If that happened It'd just make everything easier. Let everyone think Piccolo had gone off the edge. Mark wanted a chat with his 'roommate'.   
  
"You aren't going crazy," he could just feel the relief at that statement. This guy really was something. "You just have a killer in your head. Don't try to stop me. It wont work. Even though I'm controlling your body I still can influence others thoughts. That's how people haven't noticed your lack of accent yet. Get it?  
  
"You have no idea how powerful I am. I am so powerful that after I'm done with you, no one'll believe you didn't kill him." He could feel the confusion turning into realization and disbelief. "Trust me. I get the money for the kill and you get even more jail time." Mark could almost see the question on Tony's face. Maybe he wasn't so smart after all. "Who you ask? I'll tell you who. James Brody, and he'll be dead by the end of the week.  
  
"Why am I telling you this?" Mark asked the question again for Tony. "Let's just say 'premeditated murder.'"  
  
***  
  
Tony's mind was a whirl with thoughts. He was trying to get his brain around the thought of someone using him. Of someone inside his head. It explained some stuff. Ok, it explained everything that had happened today and some stuff that had happened last night. He knew that lady had been to easy to talk to.   
  
God, the guy wanted to kill Brody. He couldn't let that happen. True they didn't really get along but that's no reason to want the guy dead. He had to do something to stop the guy. Tony wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't.  
  
***  
  
Mark was really hating himself for that little talk earlier. Piccolo had really started to fight him after that. This guy was something else. He seriously believed he could beat Girodey. They had just left the captain and Tony had gotten close to revealing Mark's plan.   
  
'Now, here is where I start trying to kick Piccolo out of his own body.' True after Piccolo left his body the only thing keeping the body alive would be Girodey himself and after he left then the body would die but he had nothing against killing his unwilling accomplice. Nothing at all.  
  
***  
  
Tony felt something change. He wasn't quite sure what but something had changed. He felt his hold and small level of control over his body fade. He was being pushed out. Piccolo had no idea what to do. He had to do something before he left his body completely. So he did the first thing to come to mind.   
  
He shut the door. He didn't know where the door led to or even what the door was made of but he shut it. After his heart had stopped pounding he took a look around. It was his jail cell.  
  
He was torn between opening that door and possibly getting kicked out of his body or stay here where all the bad memories were. Eventually the need to be out of that cell won and Tony found himself back in his body with the killer. A vicious cycle had begun. 


	7. Battle

Corridors of the Mind  
  
by Shell Lee  
  
Tony Piccolo's last hopes had gone up in smoke when Wendy walked past. She had heard him. He knew it. Why didn't she stop? This guy must have done something to her to make her ignore voices like that. Or she could've thought it was a stray thought. Or maybe she just couldn't believe it. Whatever had happened it was obvious he wasn't getting any help from her.  
  
He took a quick peak from his hiding place. At least he thought of it as his hiding place. It looked like they were headed to the room he shared with Lucas. 'Maybe this guy wants ta sleep,' Tony thought but knew it wasn't going to happen. He'd just have to survive and look for his opening to do something to stop the bastard.  
  
They turned the door and Tony was still planning how he was about to stop him when he saw this guy get into the wrong bunk. He had to smile. Lucas would defiantly know something was up.  
  
***  
  
Lucas was so tired when he finally got the chance to go to bed. He sighed as he opened the door. Walenck hoped that Tony wasn't already asleep. The last thing he needed right now was Piccolo sawing logs when he was trying to sleep.  
  
He stepped inside the room and blinked. "Tony, get off my bunk. I don't know what you hope to accomplish up there but I need my sleep before I do all the stuff that needs to be done tomorrow."  
  
"Oh sorry. I forgot witch bunk was mine." Piccolo swung his feet off the bunk and down to the floor. Lucas just stood there. 'That was way too easy. There must be something on my bunk.' Cautiously, he searched his bunk, listening for sounds of laughter coming from the bottom bunk. There wasn't any laughter nor anything on his bunk. If Tony really did forget witch bunk was his then Lucas probably could wait and get him to med bay in the morning. He was just too tired tonight.  
  
"Luke, Hey Luke. You still awake?" The whisper came up from the bottom bunk just as Lucas was about to go to sleep. It was so low it was like Tony didn't want anyone to hear.  
  
Here it was, the joke. Lucas sighed, "Yeah I'm awake. What do you want?"  
  
"Listen you gotta tell someone I ain't exactly me right now. Someone's in my head, makein' me do things. He wants ta kill..." Piccolo's voice trailed off. There were some sounds coming from the bottom bunk. It almost sounded like someone fighting.  
  
"Hey, you OK down there?" No answer. "Tony." Lucas decided to bend over and see what the hold up was...  
  
...and was met with a gun pointed right at him.  
  
***  
  
"Hey Tim, anything out there?" Commander Ford asked. Tim jumped. He was so intent on watching his screen he hadn't noticed the commander.  
  
"Nothing sir. All's quiet," Tim decided to try to be funny and add, "Perhaps too quiet."  
  
"Do you really think that?" Ford half expected him to be serous.  
  
"No sir. But I've always wanted to say that."  
  
***  
  
"You don't want to do this, Tony. Trust me." Lucas was staring at the gun so he didn't notice the sadistic smile creep across his room-mate's face.  
  
"You don't know how much I do. I know Tony doesn't want me to." At Lucas' confused look he smiled again. He was having fun with this. "Oh you weren't paying attention to him when he pleaded for your help. I guess you two aren't really friends after all. Oh well, in few minutes you'll be dead so it doesn't matter."   
  
"We are friends. I just thought he was messing with me. He does that a lot." Lucas' attention was still consumed by the gun.  
  
"Yeah sure. I bet you don't even know why he was in jail to begin with." Mark had seen everything when he looked up the history of the guy who's body he 'borrowed' and some of it was confusing after he saw the way people treated Tony on this sub. Now he'd find out the answer.  
  
Lucas looked up from the gun. 'Is this guy nuts? Am I nuts to be thinking this guy isn't Tony?' he thought. Out loud he said, "Of course I do. He hit a superior officer."  
  
The sadistic smile came again. It made Lucas shiver despite the blankets still on him. "He didn't just hit the officer." The bastard paused for dramatic effect. "He killed his superior officer." Mark was thoroughly enjoying himself. Until he found himself unable to pull the trigger. "Damn it," he swore as the gun swung around so it wasn't pointed at Lucas anymore.  
  
Tony's body started shaking before he forced out the words, "Luke, run. Get help." before collapsing on the ground, still shaking. It looked like he was having some sort of seizure. Lucas ran to the door. Opened it and ran out into the hall. He needed help and needed it fast.  
  
***  
  
Tony lay there screaming on the floor. For some reason the fight for control in his body translated into physical pain. He heard the glass sitting on Lucas' computer shatter. Forcing his eyes open he found a shard and an idea formed in his head. Shaking with the fight to keep control he picked it up and drug it across his wrist. Blood rushed out and pain rushed in. It overwhelmed him and Tony blacked out.  
  
***  
  
Mark had been beat. But he still planed to salvage this job. His gun lay across the room and this body was on the verge of collapse. It didn't matter if he couldn't feel the pain this body was currently in, when this body died he'd be sling shoted back to his own body. No telling what that'd do to him. At least that little punk had gone for help. Maybe if he concentrated he could convince Lucas all this had been a dream and he woke up to find Piccolo slitting his wrists. He could still salvage this. All he had to do was concentrate.  
  
***  
  
Lucas was running down the hall. He didn't know where he was heading but his feet were taking him to the bridge. Hopefully he could find help there. He needed to tell someone else what Tony and that other guy had told him. Wait, no he had to get help for Piccolo. That was a dream but Tony had slit his own wrists. He had to go to med bay and get help but his feet kept carrying him to the bridge. 


	8. Results

Corridors of the Mind  
  
by Shell Lee  
  
Tony Piccolo's last hopes had gone up in smoke when Wendy walked past. She had heard him. He knew it. Why didn't she stop? This guy must have done something to her to make her ignore voices like that. Or she could've thought it was a stray thought. Or maybe she just couldn't believe it. Whatever had happened it was obvious he wasn't getting any help from her.  
  
He took a quick peak from his hiding place. At least he thought of it as his hiding place. It looked like they were headed to the room he shared with Lucas. 'Maybe this guy wants ta sleep,' Tony thought but knew it wasn't going to happen. He'd just have to survive and look for his opening to do something to stop the bastard.  
  
They turned the door and Tony was still planning how he was about to stop him when he saw this guy get into the wrong bunk. He had to smile. Lucas would defiantly know something was up.  
  
***  
  
Lucas was so tired when he finally got the chance to go to bed. He sighed as he opened the door. Walenck hoped that Tony wasn't already asleep. The last thing he needed right now was Piccolo sawing logs when he was trying to sleep.  
  
He stepped inside the room and blinked. "Tony, get off my bunk. I don't know what you hope to accomplish up there but I need my sleep before I do all the stuff that needs to be done tomorrow."  
  
"Oh sorry. I forgot witch bunk was mine." Piccolo swung his feet off the bunk and down to the floor. Lucas just stood there. 'That was way too easy. There must be something on my bunk.' Cautiously, he searched his bunk, listening for sounds of laughter coming from the bottom bunk. There wasn't any laughter nor anything on his bunk. If Tony really did forget witch bunk was his then Lucas probably could wait and get him to med bay in the morning. He was just too tired tonight.  
  
"Luke, Hey Luke. You still awake?" The whisper came up from the bottom bunk just as Lucas was about to go to sleep. It was so low it was like Tony didn't want anyone to hear.  
  
Here it was, the joke. Lucas sighed, "Yeah I'm awake. What do you want?"  
  
"Listen you gotta tell someone I ain't exactly me right now. Someone's in my head, makein' me do things. He wants ta kill..." Piccolo's voice trailed off. There were some sounds coming from the bottom bunk. It almost sounded like someone fighting.  
  
"Hey, you OK down there?" No answer. "Tony." Lucas decided to bend over and see what the hold up was...  
  
...and was met with a gun pointed right at him.  
  
***  
  
"Hey Tim, anything out there?" Commander Ford asked. Tim jumped. He was so intent on watching his screen he hadn't noticed the commander.  
  
"Nothing sir. All's quiet," Tim decided to try to be funny and add, "Perhaps too quiet."  
  
"Do you really think that?" Ford half expected him to be serous.  
  
"No sir. But I've always wanted to say that."  
  
***  
  
"You don't want to do this, Tony. Trust me." Lucas was staring at the gun so he didn't notice the sadistic smile creep across his room-mate's face.  
  
"You don't know how much I do. I know Tony doesn't want me to." At Lucas' confused look he smiled again. He was having fun with this. "Oh you weren't paying attention to him when he pleaded for your help. I guess you two aren't really friends after all. Oh well, in few minutes you'll be dead so it doesn't matter."   
  
"We are friends. I just thought he was messing with me. He does that a lot." Lucas' attention was still consumed by the gun.  
  
"Yeah sure. I bet you don't even know why he was in jail to begin with." Mark had seen everything when he looked up the history of the guy who's body he 'borrowed' and some of it was confusing after he saw the way people treated Tony on this sub. Now he'd find out the answer.  
  
Lucas looked up from the gun. 'Is this guy nuts? Am I nuts to be thinking this guy isn't Tony?' he thought. Out loud he said, "Of course I do. He hit a superior officer."  
  
The sadistic smile came again. It made Lucas shiver despite the blankets still on him. "He didn't just hit the officer." The bastard paused for dramatic effect. "He killed his superior officer." Mark was thoroughly enjoying himself. Until he found himself unable to pull the trigger. "Damn it," he swore as the gun swung around so it wasn't pointed at Lucas anymore.  
  
Tony's body started shaking before he forced out the words, "Luke, run. Get help." before collapsing on the ground, still shaking. It looked like he was having some sort of seizure. Lucas ran to the door. Opened it and ran out into the hall. He needed help and needed it fast.  
  
***  
  
Tony lay there screaming on the floor. For some reason the fight for control in his body translated into physical pain. He heard the glass sitting on Lucas' computer shatter. Forcing his eyes open he found a shard and an idea formed in his head. Shaking with the fight to keep control he picked it up and drug it across his wrist. Blood rushed out and pain rushed in. It overwhelmed him and Tony blacked out.  
  
***  
  
Mark had been beat. But he still planed to salvage this job. His gun lay across the room and this body was on the verge of collapse. It didn't matter if he couldn't feel the pain this body was currently in, when this body died he'd be sling shoted back to his own body. No telling what that'd do to him. At least that little punk had gone for help. Maybe if he concentrated he could convince Lucas all this had been a dream and he woke up to find Piccolo slitting his wrists. He could still salvage this. All he had to do was concentrate.  
  
***  
  
Lucas was running down the hall. He didn't know where he was heading but his feet were taking him to the bridge. Hopefully he could find help there. He needed to tell someone else what Tony and that other guy had told him. Wait, no he had to get help for Piccolo. That was a dream but Tony had slit his own wrists. He had to go to med bay and get help but his feet kept carrying him to the bridge. 


	9. Climax

Corridors of the Mind  
  
by Shell Lee  
  
Tony slowly woke up for the second time that day. At first all he could feel was the pain. It started in his wrist and slowly he became aware of more including a splitting headache. Then he became aware of people passing him. As if moving through a fog his mind registered that he was no longer laying down. In fact he was moving. Either that or the objects and walls were passing him. That just didn't seem very likely. As to where he was going, Tony had no clue. He was still trying to wake up and figure out what was going on when he finally came to a room. Lt. James Brody's room.  
  
***  
  
"Hey Brody can I talk to you for a min?" Tony's voice came filtering through that door. Jim hadn't been expecting it and was just getting ready for bed when the knock came.  
  
"Sure. One sec." He walked up to the door wondering what possed Tony to come knocking at this hour. It was nearly... eight. Ok maybe not that late but late enough. With a swish the door opened up reviling a seemingly distraught Piccolo standing there. "Come on in."  
  
After Tony came inside the door swished shut behind him. "I need to ask you something but I don't how exactly to ask."  
  
"It's ok. You can talk to me about whatever on your mind." As Jim turned around he came face to face with the same gun Mark had pointed at Lucas.  
  
"I don't feel like talking right now. All I really want to do is kill you." Jim quickly checked his escape routes. Just in case Tony wasn't kidding. Damn, the only one was straight through Tony.  
  
"Don't worry this wont hurt. I'm not sadistic just greedy." A slow smile crept across has face. If Lucas hadn't known of Piccolo's past chances were Jim hadn't either. Oh how Mark liked to make people squirm.  
  
"I know what you're thinking right now. You thinking, 'What is Piccolo doing? Why does he want to do this?' You are. I know it. Don't try to deny it. You see the thing is I'm not Piccolo right now. I'm a murder for hire. Piccolo here is so perfect for this job. I couldn't have invented someone better for this." Mark paused so the poor man he was about to kill could get a word in edge wise.  
  
"They will never believe Tony could've done this." Franticly Jim's eyes searched the room for some thing he could use in getting out of here. Something to help him get away from Tony or whoever it was.  
  
Just the kind of comment Mark had been hoping for. People were just so cliched when scared shitless. "Ahh but they will. You see Tony was convicted of murder and got thrown in jail." When Mark saw the look of utter disbelief on Jim's face he couldn't help but add, "What? You think just hitting a officer is enough to get you thrown into jail. And even if he was can you really believe that his sentence would have to be bad enough for the guy to risk his humanity for his freedom."  
  
"Look whatever. You do know we can fix it. Don't do this." One last plea for his life wouldn't go amiss. At least that's what Jim hoped. "Just put the gun down. You don't want to do this."  
  
***  
  
Ortiz was waking down the hall to do something and heard some talking coming from Jim's room. Funny that didn't sound like friendly talking. Hearing a "Put the gun down. You don't want to do this." he quickly he opened the door hoping that whoever was in there wouldn't decide it was open season on all seaQuest crewmen.   
  
***  
  
Tony heard the door open and thought that he might watch himself not only kill Brody but some other poor slob in the wrong place at the wrong time. No one would believe him. How could they? He now had a gun in his hand along with a witness to the crime if he didn't end up killing them too. They would lock him up for sure.   
  
"Piccolo. Freeze." It sounded like Ortiz but Tony couldn't turn his head to see weather it was or not. He could hear his own voice say, "Fuck off. This doesn't concern you."   
  
"The hell it does. Just put the gun down and no one gets hurt." Ortiz had his own gun pointed at the out of control and obviously insane ex con.   
  
"You don't understand." Mark laughed. "He doesn't understand either. How dense can you be?" Without warning Mark pulled the trigger. Tony hadn't seen it coming and therefore couldn't try to stop the inevitable from happening. Ortiz did and shot just before Mark could shot Jim, hitting Tony in his side.   
  
Mark couldn't feel any of that and surprised Ortiz by body checking him to get out the door. Running down the hall to find someway to get into the aqua tunnels. If he could get and figure out how to use Tony's gills he'd be home free.  
  
"Brody are you alright?" He probably should get Piccolo first and then see if Brody's alright.  
  
"I'm fine. Go get Piccolo. And don't hurt him!" Jim hollered down the hall after Ortiz. He was just starting to believe that crazy ass story Tony was trying to make him believe.  
  
Racing down the hall way Ortiz caught up with Tony just as the ex con was about to jump into the moon pool. Just missing his shirt when Tony dove under the water.   
  
"Shit," he swore. Not only did Piccolo get into the aqua tunnels but Darwin was out side the ship feeding.  
  
***  
  
Tony could feel his lungs become tight with the lack of oxygen. This guy didn't know how to let the water inside. He's instincts were that water was bad when it got into your body. Tony was going to drown. He had gills but he was going to drown.   
  
This fear gave him a strength he didn't have before. A strength to fight. Tony fought with everything he had and then some. He fought against being trapped in his own body and against this guy that tried to kill his friends. This guy that was about to kill him.   
  
A sensation came over Tony and he felt like he was standing at the top of a very large building and hanging over the edge was the guy that been controlling him for the past couple of days. Tony could almost see the man hanging by his finger tips and knowing that he couldn't hang on forever. Deciding to help this process along Tony put his foot down on top if the fingers. In his mind the ex con could hear the screams as his toucerer fell.  
  
Then it was over and sweet water filled his gills again and Tony was safe. Dead tired but safe. He was tempted to just go to sleep here in Darwin's tunnels but he had to get out of there and see to the bullet wound in his arm. Ortiz deserved an explanation to along with a thank you.   
  
Painfully Tony pulled himself up and over the edge of the moon pool. When this was done Tony just collapsed with exhaustion. Getting that son of a bitch out of his head was harder than it seemed at the time. 


	10. Some thoughts

Corridors of the Mind  
  
by Shell Lee  
  
Somewhere on land in a hospital a man was waking up from a cooma. He had only been in it for a few days but that was long enough. There was a woman by his bed. She had been there from the start. The hospital employees thought that this woman was married to the man. She wasn't but what other people thought wasn't her business. They could think what they wanted to just as long as it didn't interfere with what she and the man did together. It didn't help that she had checked them in as husband and wife.  
  
Just then that man decided to wake up. He had a strange look in his eyes. It was a cross between mad and embarrassed. It didn't take her too long to figure out what had happened.   
  
He never made the kill.  
  
***  
  
Wendy set down her book and took a good look at her patent. He was laying down on a bed in the middle of a bunch of machines that were supposed to measure heart beat, blood pressure and anything else important. This time he looked ok. The only reason he was hooked up to the machines was just to make sure nothing happened to him.  
  
It was hard to believe that this morning he was brought in because he had slit his wrist. Judging from what Brody and Ortiz said when they brought Tony in Wendy now had a pretty good idea as to why he did that. She chuckled as she thought of that poor nurse when she found out her patient had gotten up and left. He had run to wake Wendy up and then received a good yelling at.  
  
When Jim and Miguel had brought Tony in she had been so relived. Of course that had been before she had seen him. He had been way too pale and breathing seemed difficult for him. They had put him on the machines immediately and he was out of danger. Now he just had to wake up.  
  
Jim had been shoot too but it had only grazed him. A simple bandage and he was good to go. After tending to Tony for a little while Wendy had listened with utter disbelief to what the two men told her. The fact that it explained some things without calling into question her abilities as a psyic help convince her. The thing that cinched it was when Tony didn't wake up. The wound wasn't that bad and he should've been awake by now.   
  
She could hardly believe that Tony had survived all that. That man inside his head. Controlling him like that. And when Tony woke up she was convinced he would have a hard time adjusting to not having company in his own mind. On top of that he had senses that just kicked into gear. Things he had to learn.  
  
Everything was about to get so much more complicated for him. Like it wasn't before, right? He had been dyslectic from the start so he should be able to deal with it well by now.   
  
Then there's his background. It wasn't a peace of cake and he probably got a lot of shit for it. This was demonstrated by the fact he decked a superior officer (or possibly killed. Wendy was waiting for him to wake up before she commented.). That landed him in jail. It couldn't have been a fun place to live.  
  
Of course she couldn't forget the gills. Tony's last chance effort to get out of jail. The thing that brought him to the seaQuest and bunked with Lucas. Everything that has been mentioned so far had tried to separate him from the crew but still he managed to make friends. Almost against their will. Weather he knew it or not.  
  
Now his psyic powers had been woken up. Wendy had no idea how this would be for Tony. Her own had been awakened when she was young. By the time she reached seaQuest she knew how to deal with it. All of this would be new to Tony. He'd have to be guided through it and taught.  
  
Wendy felt sorry for him. She really did. Right now though there was jack shit she could do about helping him. So she just picked up her book and kept on reading.  
  
***  
  
After they had brought Tony in unconscious Jim and Miguel were prodded out into the waiting area and told to go back to their quarters. Figuring someone should go tell Lucas what had happened Jim headed that way before going to his room.  
  
Standing outside Lucas' room he realized he had no idea how to break the news to him. Briefly the thought to just go to his room and let Lucas find out from someone else crossed his mind but that just wasn't him. Bravely he stood his ground and knocked.   
  
An obviously unkempt Lucas came to the door. He probably had been asleep. "Hey. Brody." Some how Lucas made that sound more like, 'Ok you're Brody.' than any sort of greeting. "Do you want to come in?"  
  
"Yeah please." He came in and proceeded to tell the teen what had happened. 


	11. The Begining Of The End

Author's notes: Wow. It's been a long time. I'm sorry to everyone that has been waiting for this but I got wraped up in Christmas and everything. Oh and Happy New Year!  
  
Corridors of the Mind  
  
by Shell Lee  
  
After Brody left he went to his room thinking about the near death experience he had just had. He had put off dealing with it and now that had caught up to him. What had changed between him and Tony? They hadn't been to close before but now what? Should he go see Tony while he's recovering? Should they try and become friends? He knew one thing though. He'd help Tony find whoever did this. Right after he explained a few things to Brody.  
  
***  
  
Lucas sat on the bottom bunk. Brody had come in and dropped a load on him. That wasn't really fair though. Brody had offered to stay and talk but Lucas told Brody he'd be fine. Something was bothering him tough. It was right on the tip of his tongue...  
  
The Dream! That was it! That meant it wasn't a dream. It must have happened. Feeling of guilt washed over Lucas. He hadn't known. Somewhere between his and Tony's room he went from believing that it was real and he needed to get help to believing that it was all a dream and Tony had tried to kill himself.  
  
And then there was what the guy had said. Who lied to him? Someone must have. Things just didn't add up. Was it the guy that had taken over his roommate's body and tried to kill him or was it that same roommate the he should believe? Great just when you thought you knew a guy...  
  
He shook himself. That kind of thinking would get him nowhere. He had to remain calm until Tony woke up. Then he'd get the answers. But that wasn't going to happen for awhile. Maybe Brody hadn't gotten that far. Suddenly Lucas felt the need to talk to someone.  
  
***  
  
Tony woke up. It wasn't easy. Everything in his mind screamed at him to stay asleep. He had to know something though. He had to know if that guy was gone. He didn't want to think of the horrors lying just underneath the surface. Now was not the time to face those things. It wasn't the time to even think about it.  
  
His wrist hurt. And his side. 'That'd be where you tried to kill yourself and where Ortiz almost did it for ya,' Tony thought. That wasn't the only places he hurt. He also had an ungodly headache and most other places hurt too but it paled in comparison to the major wounds.  
  
Struggling he opened his eyes. It was an effort but worth it. No one was there. Nothing stopped him. Funny now it felt like something was wrong. Even tough it did feel strange to make his own body move it wasn't quite that. It was something else.   
  
He felt alone.   
  
Alone and cold. No matter how much he had hated that guy in his head it was someone else. No matter how much you hate the enemy it's still someone to talk to. Now there was no one there at all. Great. Now he was getting philosophical and didn't really like it.   
  
So to take his mind off those feelings he took a look around. Bright lights were above him and there were some beds beside him. Tony screamed. He couldn't be back in the morgue. He was free now. No more morgue. No more waiting for someone to get a clue that he wasn't acting normal. He could remember beating that guy. Why did life have to be so hard?  
  
A voice broke through his frantic thoughts. "Calm down! Please. Just calm down! It's ok. He's gone." It sounded like Wendy. A lifeline had just been thrown to him. Everything had happened and it wasn't just wishful thinking. Tony fell back. Everything was ok. He was back where he belonged.  
  
***  
  
Wendy felt the figure in her arms fall limp in her arms. She was so relived that he was going to be fine, but she also knew that things had a long way to go before everything was back to normal. 


	12. The End. Right?

Author's notes: Hey y'all. This is it! The last chapter. I left it open ended in case I want to come back to this with a sequel. Thanks to all who reviewed. I apprecate it and thanks to my part time beta. She disappered on me. Thanks for trying anyway.   
  
Corridors of the Mind  
  
by Shell Lee  
  
Lucas was nervous and pacing around the waiting room. It had been a few days since Brody had brought him the news about Tony. A few days since he had come to his own conclusion that the dream had been all too real. Brody had been there and thought the same thing Lucas did. They had planed it all out about how they would approach Tony.   
  
It went without saying that they'd wait until he was better. Wendy had given them the ok and here he was scared shitless standing outside the door to med bay, waiting for Jim to get there. A thousand questions swirled though his head. What if Tony didn't do it and got angry because they didn't trust him? What if he did do it? Would they get an explanation? Would Tony get kicked off seaQuest?   
  
Would things change between them? Ahh, the big question. Tony had become the kind of big brother he had always wanted and Lucas had just found out that his new big brother might've killed someone. God this might change everything or nothing. Nothing. If Tony didn't do it then it would change nothing. Right?   
  
No, no. Things would change. Tony just forced a bad guy out of his skull. That just doesn't happen everyday.   
  
Lucas sat down on the floor, hoping Jim would get there soon. He couldn't take this much longer.  
  
"Lucas, are you ready?" Jim's voice drifted down the hallway towards him.   
  
'Finally,' Lucas silently cheered. "Yeah I'm ready."  
  
"Then let's do it." Jim opened the door and walked through it followed close behind by Lucas.  
  
***  
  
Tony was awake. He had been for awhile now and was ready to get out of bed but Wendy hadn't let him until he could block out most of the voices. Man, who would've thought the he, of all people, would be 'gifted' with this. He was the type to use it to figure out what to say to a girl or to find out someone's darkest secret. He didn't deserve it.   
  
The door opening brought his attention back to the present. He hadn't had any visitors since he was put in med bay. Wendy had wanted to wait for him to become accustomed to his newfound powers before he saw anyone. That's what she said anyway. Tony thought it was so that he wouldn't freak or be overwhelmed when he heard someone else's thoughts.  
  
Lucas stepped into the room followed by Jim. 'Please tell me they didn't remember what that guy said. Please let them not remember,' Tony hoped.  
  
"Tony, we wanted to talk to you about something." 'Damn, too much to hope for.' Lucas went on oblivious to the thoughts swirling around in the ex-con's head. "Do you remember that guy... Of course you do. I'm sorry but he said something and well.."  
  
"What Lucas is trying to say is did you kill your superior officer?" Jim saved the teen from embarrassing himself further.  
  
The big question, the one he had been trying to avoid at all costs, was now staring him in the face. His friends wanted the answer and he had no choice but to answer truthfully.  
  
"I don't know. That day's kinda a blur. I mean he had wanted to talk to me and we never really got along but I never wanted him dead. Then the next thing I know for sure is he dead and I'm covered his blood." There he said it. For the first time in a long time he felt better. He didn't feel guilty that he honestly didn't know.  
  
"How do we know you're telling the truth? You lied before." Lucas sat down next to bed. This was too much for him. Tony could feel it and he could feel that Jim was wondering about something.   
  
"So. what if you didn't do it? Someone could've set you up?" Jim's words hit a chord in him. Ever since it happened he had thought that he did it. Tony Piccolo killed that man.  
  
"I was covered in his blood. DNA tests confirmed it. If I didn't kill him how did all that blood get on me?" It was that fact that had convicted him and sent him to jail for a long time.  
  
"Who knows? But I know that someone who could save a life like you did with me... both Lucas and me can't take one. No matter how much you pretend to be this tough guy I know you could never take a life without a damn good reason." Jim Brody was standing up for him even if it was against his own mind. Tony could hardly believe it. No one had ever shown they cared that much for him.  
  
"If I didn't who did? It wasn't like there was anyone else around at the time." Another good point.   
  
"If there were only two people in the room and if one of them is now dead and the other can't remember then who's to say there were only two people in that room?" Tony wished his lawyers had been as good as Jim. Then maybe he wouldn't have gone to jail.  
  
"Umm... sorry to interrupt but why does this matter now? He's already been convicted."  
  
"Simple we find out who did it and get Tony here acquitted. After we find out who that man was that tried to kill me."  
  
***  
  
Mark was pacing around in that hotel room he had rented after they had left the hospital. How the hell was he going to get back at that little asshole who had disrupted his plans? A slow smile spread across his face. He had an idea and it was a dozy. 


End file.
